Pretreatment agent for ink jet textile printing, ink jet textile printing ink set, and method of ink jet textile printing

Abstract

A pretreatment agent was provided for ink jet textile printing. The pretreatment agent contains a polyvalent metal compound, an anionic resin emulsion, a fluorinated water and oil repellent, and water.

Description

[0001]The entire disclosure of Japanese Application No.: 2012-069208 filed on Mar. 26, 2012 is expressly incorporated by reference herein.BACKGROUND[0002]1. Technical Field[0003]The present invention relates to a pretreatment agent for ink jet textile printing, an ink jet textile printing ink set including the pretreatment agent, and an ink jet textile printing method using the pretreatment agent.[0004]2. Related Art[0005]Various techniques are applied to recording processes for forming images on paper and other recording media according to image data signals. Among such techniques is an ink jet technique in which images are formed directly on a recording medium by ejecting an ink only onto desired image portions, using an inexpensive apparatus. In the ink jet technique, inks are efficiently used, and accordingly running cost can be reduced. In addition, little noise is produced when the ink jet technique is used, and the ink jet technique is thus advantageous as a recording method....

AI Technical Summary

Benefits of technology

[0010]An advantage of some aspects of the invention is that it provides a pretreatment agent that is used for ink jet textile printing and helps produce a printed article having high whiteness.

[0011]Another advantage of the invention is that it provides an ink jet textile printing ink set that includes the pretreatment agent and an ink composition and that allows the ink composition to be reliably ejected, and an ink jet textile printing method using the pretreatment agent.

[0014]The inventors further conducted intensive research and found that a white ink composition containing a polyvalent metal compound and an anionic resin emulsion can solve the problem of the technique disclosed in the above-cited JP-A-60-99081. More specifically, it was found that the polyvalent metal compound in the white ink composition acts to aggregate the white pigment on the surface of the cloth. In addition, it was found that the anionic resin emulsion in the white ink composition acts to prevent unevenness caused in ink jet textile printing.

[0016]The inventors further conducted intensive research and found that a white ink composition containing a fluorinated water and oil repellent can solve the problem of the technique disclosed in the above-cited JP-A-2008-195767. More specifically, the fluorinated water and oil repellent in the white ink composition acts to reduce at least either the pigment concentration in the white ink composition or the resin concentration in the white ink composition, thereby sufficiently increasing the whiteness of the printed cloth. Furthermore, the inventors found that the presence of the fluorinated water and oil repellent in the pretreatment agent reduces the concentrations of calcium and the anionic resin emulsion, and that this makes it difficult to leave marks formed by pretreatment on the cloth.

[0017]It was thus found that a pretreatment agent containing a polyvalent metal compound, an anionic resin emulsion, a fluorinated water and oil repellent and water can solve the above-described problem, and the invention was accomplished.

Problems solved by technology

However, when the techniques of the above-cited documents are applied to a white pigment ink, the whiteness of the resulting printed cloth may be very low, and the ink may not be reliably ejected.

As a result, it was found that the image of the printed cloth was uneven and that the white pigment of the ink was not aggregated in the image.

The inventors further analyzed printed cloth produced using the aqueous white ink base and the aqueous white ink in detail, and found that the resulting printed cloth was inferior in whiteness.

More specifically, the whiteness of the image of the printed cloth was very low and insufficient to satisfy the whiteness necessary for printed textile products, such as printed T-shirts.

Furthermore, the inventors found that the presence of the fluorinated water and oil repellent in the pretreatment agent reduces the concentrations of calcium and the anionic resin emulsion, and that this makes it difficult to leave marks formed by pretreatment on the cloth.